Thinking
by ProjectManhattan
Summary: Alex and Goren each ruminate on what their partner means to them.
1. Chapter 1

Alex Eames stared across the room at her partner. He was fully engrossed in some phone call, some cell conversation regarding information critical to the present case. Enough to where he wouldn't notice searching eyes.

When not distracted by a case, her nephew, or her search for a man, she would find herself trying to assess, to pin down the relationship she had with Bobby. The one that they shared, really. They had known each other and worked so closely for so long, yet he was still able to surprise her. He, of course, had had her figured out almost immediately.

It was sad, really. He was a genius investigator, such a very strong and gifted individual. Gifted. Yeah, gifted. An amazing ability to absorb information and to manipulate people. Extremely valuable assets to any detective.

Yet Bobby dragged her down. He'd tainted her. How many times had it been pointed out? As if she didn't know herself.

Despite his abilities, he was a problem. A weight. He couldn't act like a normal adult, and had a horrible reputation for outbursts. Angry, childish outbursts that anyone with self-respect would be able to contain. He was flat-out abnormal, probably had been all his life. Certainly would be for the rest of it.

She had no choice but to be there for him. At any time, if forced, she could switch to someone new. She adapted well. She adapted when she moved out of Vice, she adapted when Joe died. She had to. If you don't bend, you break, right?

Bobby was different. Major Case was his stability. _She_ was his stability. He'd had a horrible life, and one by one each constant he'd had was either ripped away or distorted beyond repair. In her experience, people with his kind of childhood were usually bitter, and fought back at humanity with hate. Bobby somehow manifested his problems by being an anti-authoritarian, obsessive, and sadly antisocial cop. It had just gotten worse as time had passed. She'd hoped he would heal, but he was still falling apart.

Something else she fought with herself about. Did she enjoy working with him? He, well, he obviously enjoyed her company more than she enjoyed his. He'd grown so used to having her around. It wasn't that she didn't like Bobby, or that she wasn't loyal to him. Hey may have altered the course of her life for the worse, but he sure as hell was fun to work with. An interesting guy. He was just so much fun to watch, _irresistibly_ fun to watch, especially if he was in one of his more sadistic moods. There were also a surprising number of pros to having a partner who always knew what was on your mind.

Bobby turned around, caught her eyes, smiled, and gave a small wave to indicate the conversation wasn't going to take up much more time. He'd assumed she was just waiting on him. She sighed. Poor guy.

Really... if you stopped and _really_ thought about it... there were other things to like about Bobby. He was truly full of surprises. And it wasn't often you met a guy as huge and capable as him who would respect someone like her. Another difference between Bobby and the other detectives. He obviously valued her to the point that he relied on her. Others didn't look at the small, forceful woman in the same way. A partner was supposed to be equal, but putting someone like Eames in that category, much less as a _senior_ partner, was difficult for the macho types she'd been paired with before.

Like dating, when the guys found out you were a cop. Or at least when it really hit them. She'd be treated differently, no matter what. By everyone apart from Bobby.

Goren hung up the phone, came up to the glass, and motioned that they had a lead.

Bobby... he understood, though. He knew where she fit in, how she worked. They were a funny pair, and they had more problems than she'd care to deal with, but in the end they got along great together in all areas of their partnership. It worked.

Eames put her papers in order, put her jacket on, and got up to head out with Bobby.

He cocked his head. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she said with a smile. "Fine."

Constantly assessing. It was a confusing relationship. Maybe she enjoyed it more than she'd thought.


	2. Chapter 2

He slammed the car door shut. She started the ignition, took the parking brake off, and reversed out of the space outside of 1PP. He gazed out of the window. She couldn't think of any particular topic of conversation, so they were quiet.

Bobby wasn't really in the mood for conversation anyway.

He glanced over at his partner, suppressing a chuckle at the sudden resurgence of the memory of the first time she'd driven him. She had insisted, in fact, and Eames wasn't the kind of woman you needed to be chivalrous around. She was liable to knock a knight in shining armor off of his horse.

He then remembered when he first met her, when they were assigned to each other; he recalled her surprisingly small size, and her even more surprisingly acerbic wit. He'd been assigned to big tough loners before, not scrappy, ballsy women.

She hadn't liked him. He'd known that much for sure. That hadn't bothered him. Not really. Someone consistently liking Bobby, even _tolerating_ him (especially if they hadn't at all gotten to know him yet) wasn't exactly commonplace. When she'd read the letter in the courthouse, yeah, that'd been a little bit of a surprise, but he got over it.

She'd gotten over him, as time went on. Gotten over his _'quirks'_, as they'd probably been called when she asked around about him before they met. His techniques. His idiosyncrasies. As if 'quirky' could describe him.

He'd grown to like her more, too. A mutual understanding had developed. He let her say whatever she wanted, react in whatever way she saw fit. She let him happily pop boils on dead bodies and regularly make a spectacle of himself in public. All as long as it'd give them the slightest edge in their case.

That was what was important. Solving the puzzles, catching the killers. Personal preference didn't matter. In the beginning, he could've been paired with anyone. It was just lucky that she was the type he enjoyed having around.

Eames came to a stop at a red light. Goren glanced at her, thinking it over. He smiled. She didn't glance over. She had no idea what he was thinking (as per usual).

Eames fit him somehow. Despite his usual insight into people, he wasn't quite sure why. The old clichéd adage, "opposites attract"? In looks, they were opposites. In personality, certainly. In family, hell yes. They moved differently, saw everything in a different light. Complimented each other, you could say.

Wait. Was he _attracted_ to her?

Not attracted. No, not really. He was affectionate toward her, he supposed. It was nice to be his size and of his standing and have a woman around you whom you didn't feel like you needed to protect. Someone to talk to people for you when you only wanted to poke around and observe things. Someone to deal with formalities and authority, even if she hated them as much as you did.

He'd gotten used to it. Their playing off of each other when dealing with witnesses or higher-ups or anyone else he was forced to contend with and would have to deal with alone otherwise. He certainly loved working with her in the interrogation room. Really... he hoped she'd be working with him for a long time.

They pulled up the driveway of an important (and initially reluctant) witness. They each got out of the car and walked up the porch steps. After a doorbell ring and a quick conversation, a nervous-looking middle-aged woman motioned them inside. Bobby was tempted to hold the door open for his partner, but he suppressed the urge.


End file.
